Radoslaw Gach, a Polish farmer, poses for a photo with a balloon that a woman in England released in memory of her father on the first anniversary of his death, in Troszkowo, Poland, on Sept. 11, 2019. The English woman wrote her phone number on the balloon and Gach's daughter Dominika helped him write a message in English to the woman in Birmingham, who was surprised that a balloon could travel more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers).

(AP Photo/Dominika Gach)

Dominika Gach, left, poses for a selfie with her father, Radoslaw Gach, a Polish farmer who found a balloon that a woman in England released in memory of her father on the first anniversary of his death, in Troszkowo, Poland, on Sept. 11, 2019. The English woman wrote her phone number on the balloon and Dominika Gach helped her father write a message in English to the woman in Birmingham, who was surprised that a balloon could travel more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers)

(AP Photo/Dominika Gach)

In this image made from video taken on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, Nicola Bowler stands in front of the grave of her father, Derek Wood, in Birmingham, England. Bowler released a helium balloon into the sky to commemorate the one-year anniversary of her father’s death. It ended up traveling more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers) across land and sea and was found by a farmer in Poland.

(AP Photo)

In this image taken from video, Nicola Bowler talks to the Associated Press in the cemetery where her father is buried, in Birmingham, England, Tuesday Sept. 10, 2019. Nicola Bowler has been surprised after she released a helium balloon in Birmingham earlier this month to commemorate the anniversary of her father’s death. The balloon ended up traveling more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers), crossing land and sea to land in a field in northern Poland.

(AP Photo)

In this image taken from Polsat TV video, a man holds a balloon he found in Troszkowo, Poland, Tuesday Sept. 10, 2019. A young English woman has been surprised after she released a helium balloon in Birmingham earlier this month to commemorate the anniversary of her father’s death. The balloon ended up traveling more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers), crossing land and sea to land in a field in northern Poland.

Balloon sent in memory of British dad lands in Polish field

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — An English woman released a helium balloon into the sky over Birmingham, England, to commemorate the first anniversary of her father's death.

She had no idea it would travel more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers), crossing land and sea to end up days later in a field in northern Poland, where a farmer found it and was moved by the gesture of a grieving daughter.

"Sometimes when I speak to my dad, I look up into the sky. So the balloon, I hoped it would travel up there to him," Nicola Bowler, a nurse, said. "My dad wasn't very well-traveled. He didn't go very far. So to see how far this has traveled would mean loads to him. He'd be laughing at all this."

Bowler and her husband released a number of standard small helium balloons on Sept. 2 along with one special star-shaped balloon printed with the words: "Always missed but never forgotten Dad / Derek, 26 Apr 50 - 02 Sep 2018." On a whim, she hand-wrote another message with her phone number: "Please text me to see how far my dad has traveled. Nicola."

The balloon got caught immediately in trees surrounding the cemetery where Derek Wood, who died at the age of 68 from cancer, now rests. Bowler's husband coaxed it out and it moved onward. She never thought the balloon would make it very far at all.

But travel it did, all the way to Troszkowo, a village located in an area of northeastern Poland dotted with lakes where farmer Radoslaw Gach found it lying on the ground near his home, not far from where his cows graze.

"It made me feel a bit sad and a bit happy that the daughter remembers her father and on the anniversary of his death releases such information," he said. He sent a text to the number with the help of his daughter who speaks English, taking Bowler by surprise.

"Somebody texted me saying 'your dad has travelled to this village' that I can't even pronounce in Poland and initially I thought 'Oh my God that's amazing' and then I thought, 'Is somebody pulling my leg, just saying that,'" Bowler told The Associated Press in an interview from the cemetery in Birmingham, where her father's grave is covered in flowers.

"So I actually googled the number that I received the text (from) and it actually was in Poland," she said. "I couldn't actually believe how far the distance was and if it's possible for a balloon to travel that far."

Gach's daughter Dominika told the AP that the family plans to frame the balloon and hang it on a wall.